On December 25, WCBS-TV aired a story about a menorah that was vandalized on Christmas Eve in Pearl River, New York. In the course of the story, reporter Lou Young mentioned that “the menorah shares the small park here with a nativity scene and a Christmas tree in a town that is heavily Irish Catholic.” He also said, “It is probably worth... [Read more...]

Catholic League president William Donohue reacted today to news that New York State Governor George Pataki has posthumously pardoned New York comedian Lenny Bruce:
“Lenny Bruce was a talented comedian who knew how to push the envelope. His opposition to racism was commendable, and he certainly knew how to make good copy satirizing white racists. ... [Read more...]

Town officials in Glenview, Illinois, a northern Chicago suburb, have ordered all Christmas decorations removed from the inside of a firehouse. Some residents complained that they could see Christmas lights, a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus inside Glenview’s Station No. 7 when they drove down Glenview Road. Village officials declared that they... [Read more...]

Soon after the Boston Globe broke the story of the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church in 2002, a website dedicated to journalism began to post stories in a section titled, “Clergy Abuse Tracker.” The website, Poynter Online, typically posts articles found in newspapers that deal with clergy abuse.
Effective January 1, 2004, the Tracker... [Read more...]

Yesterday, the Catholic League issued a news release regarding the decision of Simmons Elementary School Principal Karen Davis to remove a nativity scene from the school. Parents had put the nativity scene in the suburban Philadelphia school, but Davis had it removed because she said it was promoting Christianity. However, she allowed a Jewish religious... [Read more...]

Karen Davis, principal of a suburban Philadelphia school, Simmons Elementary, has removed from the school a nativity scene that was put there by parents. “I felt that the nativity scene was definitely promoting Christianity,” she said. When asked why she is allowing the Jewish menorah, also a religious symbol, she opined, “Judaism is not just... [Read more...]

Catholic League president William Donohue issued the following remarks today on word that Pope John Paul II has given his approval to the Mel Gibson movie, “The Passion of the Christ”:
“Pope John Paul II has seen Mel’s masterpiece and, like virtually everyone else, likes what he has seen. He expressly said, ‘It is as it was.’ The immediate... [Read more...]

Catholic League president William Donohue spoke today on the way diversity specialists in the corporate world are responding to Christmas:
“The Diversity Despots are once again seeking to gut Christmas from the workplace. Fraser Nelson, executive director of the Disability Law Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, is against any religious holiday in... [Read more...]

Catholic League president William Donohue addressed today the claim that there is a December Dilemma in the schools:
“When people say there is a December Dilemma, what they mean is that school officials are in a bind: how can they allow the celebration of Christmas without offending others? The answer? Censor Christmas.
“The Anti-Defamation... [Read more...]

On December 3, the Catholic League issued a news release regarding the decision of the Meriden Public Library in Meriden, Connecticut, to ban portraits of Jesus from an artist’s exhibition. The artist, Mary Morely, was told she could not show her reverential paintings of Jesus because it violated a library policy that disallows “inappropriate”... [Read more...]